BYE BYE BJOSSA It's your last call to visit Bjossa (she's leaving April 21) 

Only nine days remain to bid farewell to Bjossa, the killer whale that has lived at the Vancouver Aquarium for 21 years. Bjossa will be flown to SeaWorld San Diego on April 21. The aquarium has fielded dozens of call from people wishing her bon voyage. Cards and letter have been flooding in. One child wrote: "Dear Bjossa, I love you and hope you live a long and happy life. I am going to miss you a lot. Love, your best friend, Thalia." Jessica sent pencil drawings of Bjossa and wrote: "To Bjossa, You are my most favourite animal in the world. I love you." A woman sent a long message that says, in part: "Give Bjossa a hug for me. She made us feel special." Aquarium staff are preparing themselves for a teary farewell. Bjossa's head trainer, Brian Sheehan, who will travel to San Diego with Bjossa, said: "It's going to be a big hole in my life when she is out of it. It's saying goodbye to a special friend." Aquarium executive director John Nightingale said: "I don't think anyone in the building won't miss her. I've heard so many stories from parents about their kids and Bjossa." The aquarium announced an end to its killer whale display last year after an unsuccessful search for a companion for Bjossa. The 23-year-old whale has been the lone killer whale in Vancouver since the death of Finna in 1997. Bjossa was captured in Iceland and brought to Vancouver with Finna in 1980. The operation to move the 2,500-kilogram whale began last spring with Sea World applying for an import permit through the US National Marine Fisheries Service. The permit was issued last month and allows Bjossa to be moved any time before next March 31. SeaWorld has reserved a Hercules cargo plane for the trip. A crane will be used to lift Bjossa from her pool and into a SeaWorld-designed transport crate. Once in the water-filled crate, Bjossa will be trucked to the airport. The move will take about eight hours, from the moment she is lifted from her Vancouver pool to her release at SeaWorld. Clint Wright, the Vancouver Aquarium's vice-president of operations, said although plans are in place the move could be postponed at the last minute. "If for any reason Bjossa is not fit to travel then she won't go." Wright said, "if there's any problems with the equipment, we won't be able to move her." Bjossa, who currently has the medical clearance to travel, will be re-evaluated by the aquarium's Dr. Dave Huff and a SeaWorld veterinarian the day before the move. For any reason that she's not fit to travel they could pull the plug at that point," Wright said. Bjossa has been given to SeaWorld and it will pay for the move which could cost $200,000 US. Bjossa will join eight whales in San Diego. Meanwhile, the aquarium is to meet privately today with the Vancouver Parks Board to discuss plans for redeveloping the whale habitat. Park commissioners will be shown artist drawings of the renovated area that will focus on the wild West Coast. Annelise Sorg, of the Coalition for No Whales In Captivity, said the meeting should be open to the public. "That is public business," Sorg said. "There should be public accountability." A clause preventing the aquarium from bringing in whales or dolphins from the wild is written into its lease with the board. But under the lease the aquarium can bring in cetaceans - whales and dolphins - caught from the wild before Sept. 16, 1996, or that were born in captivity. 

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